Method of stripping oil sands



April 22-, 1924. 1 1,491,138

H. W. HIXON METHOD OF STRIPPING OIL SANDS Filed April 18. 1921 INVENTOI? 3 ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 22,1924.

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Application m A r l is, 1921. Serial No. maaea.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I HrnAM W. HIXON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of-New York, have invented a new and Improved Method of Stripping Oil Sands, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a method of striping oil sands or pockets.

It is commonly known that under the present methods of obtaining oil by the mechani-. cal pumping action there remains in the sands a quantity of oil, large in the aggregate, which is not drawn ofi due to the Vise cous nature of the oil and its tendency to adhere to the oil bearing sands of a pocket.

This invention therefore contemplates a method of stripping the sands of the remaining oil, where the natural flow has ceased, by the introduction of a mixture of steam and superheated water to the pocket, preferably at the lowest level, which will permeate throughout the area of the pocket to reduce the viscosity of the oil adhering to the sands by heating the same and causlng it to flow more readily.

Another object and advantage of the present method resides in the possibility of employing a portion of the a paratus which is still in place, thereby eliminating the necessity of drilling separate wells and efilecting a great saving to the prospector using this method.

With the above recited objects and others in view, the invention resides in the hereinafter described method which will be set forth in the following specification and pointed out in the appended claims.

lin order to illustrate one form of apparatus which may be employed for carrying the method into practice, in the accompanyin%drawing s,

lgure 1 1s a view illustrating diagrammatically and in a conventional way the earths strata, including the oil sands, a pres-.

sure well and a number of venting wells, together with the apparatus employed-in connection therewith.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view of the pressure well and one of the venting wells.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, 10 designates the pressure well and 11 the venting wells. In this connectionall of the wells are common to an oil pocket 12 in which the oil bearing sand 13 is contained.

As outlined heretofore the usual pumpin apparatus 14 is employed in connection wit the venting wells for the purpose of remov-.

ing the oil from the pocket. In practice it is proposed to erect a boiler plant 15 for enerating steam and superheated water which are then mixed and forced' under pressure, through a pipe 16 into the pressure well 10. It will be appreciated that the mixture will condense, and in order to remove the condensate or the water of condensation from the pocket, use is made of a return pipe 17 for this purpose which is preferably disposed centrally of the pipe 16. The return pipe 17 extends through the upper end of the pipe 16 and is controlled by an outlet valve 18. The lower end of the return pipe 17 preferably extends an appreciable distance below the lower end of the pipe 16, whereby the water of condensation will be maintained in the pocket at an appreciable level below the lower extremity of the steam pipe 16. The pipe 16 and the casings of the venting wells 11 will extend as usual through the cap or stratum-19 and into the shot cavities 20.

In reducing this method to practice the mixture which will be injected under pres sure through pipe 16 into the pocket will gradually heat the whole mass and cause the oil to be driven ahead of it in all directions so that it may be pumped from the venting wells in the same ooket. The condensation of the mixture wi l, of course, result in the accumulation of hot water in the oil sands and the oil will float on this water and be forced away from the point where the mixture enters the sand. The permeation of the mixture through the interstices in the sand will reduce the viscosity of the oil and thin the same to make it flow more readily. The increase in the temperature within the pocket will release some of the gases in the oil to produce a gas pressure in the sand to take the place of that which has become exhausted during the initial working of the pocket. The result will be that when the original space occupied by oil and gas has been filled with water, the prospector will have cognizance of the fact that all the remaining oil from the previous operations has been removed.

By using an abandoned well 10,

can be driven to the adjoinpocketing wells of the same pocket and recovered. (are must be takem however, that the mixture is caused to enter the pocket at the lowest point. so that the resulting water may always be below the oil. If this is not done there will be a tendency for the water to trap the oil in the lower portions of the and prevent its reaching the venting wells. The log of the wells will indicate the depth at which oil was struck, thereby simplifying the location of the well of greatest depth into which the mixture is to be injectedQ Having thus described my invention, What I claim is:

1. The herein described method of stripping oil pockets of the remaining oil, consisting in introducing steam under pressure to the pocket through one of the Wells thereof and simultaneously removing the Water of condensation through one of said Wells to cause the steam to permeate and heat the oil bearing sands for the purpose of reducing the viscosity of the oil adhering thereto, and pumping said oil from the venting Wells in the same pocket.

2. The herein described method of stripping oil sands of the remaining oil after the natural flow has ceased, consisting in introducing live steam under pressure to the oil pocket containing said sands through the deepest Well of the group employed for working said pocket, pumpmg out through one of said wells the condensate as formed whereby to subject the sands to the action of the steam alone for heating the same and reducing the viscosity of the oil adhering thereto, and pumping the/said oil from venting wells in the same pocket.

2-. he herein described method of stripping oil bearing sands of the oil which adheres thereto after the natural flow has ceased, consisting in the introduction to the pocket containing said oil sands live steam and superheated water under pressure, simultaneously removing the water of condensation whereby to subject the sands to the action of the steam and superheated Water only, for the purpose of reducing the viscosity of said oil and heating the same to re lease some of the gases in the oil and producing an auxiliary gas pressure in the sands to replace the natural gas pressure which has been exhausted, and then pumping out said oil thus released.

4. The heiein described method of stripping oil pockets of the remaining oil, consisting in introducing steam under pressure to the pocket through one of the wells thereof and removing the water of condensation to cause the steam to permeate and heat the oil bearing sands for the purpose of reducing the viscosity of the oil adhering thereto, and pumping said oil from the venting wells in the same pocket.

HIRAM W. HIXON. 

